The NFL draft is over and the Patriots came away with 10 players plus a few more undrafted free agents.
While it's way too early to judge how this draft class is (typically takes three years to know for sure), many NFL draft experts gave letter grades for each team following the seven rounds and the Patriots did quite well.
Here's a sampling.
"There are a lot of needs filled here, and if Harry, Williams and Winovich can get on the field early, I feel good about this being one of the draft's best classes from top to bottom."
"When Rob Gronkowski had to move outside in the playoffs this past season, it was pretty clear that New England needed a reliable big receiver to win downfield. Harry should meet that need quite well."
"Out of sheer principle, we should bump the Patriots up a half-letter grade for not looking for Tom Brady's replacement. That six-time World Champion horse is worth riding to the very, very end."
"Not drafting a tight end was eye-opening but perhaps done by design. Anyone the Patriots drafted at that position was going to be cloaked with the unfair stigma of being Rob Gronkowski's "replacement," which just isn't happening. But other than that, they did a good job of accumulating talent and great value, especially in the first three rounds, and came away with one of their more interesting drafts in a few years. Picking at the bottom of every round didn't hurt at all, and they got Chicago's fourth-rounder next year, too."
"The Patriots nailed it again. Even though I didn't love the Harry pick, he will be a producer. The rest of the draft I loved. Williams and third-round edge rusher Chase Winovich are vintage Patriots players. The only flaw: They took a punter in the fifth round."
